System and method for forming a granule bed

Abstract

An automated granule bed forming mechanism may be utilized to form granule beds that are ultimately melted, compressed, and/or set to form an at least substantially continuous sheet. The automated granule bed forming mechanism may comprise a support conveyor configured for supporting the formed granule bed and a granule dispenser having a plurality of individually controllable feed chutes positioned across a width of the support conveyor, wherein each of the plurality of feed chutes are configured to dispense granules onto the support conveyor to collectively form the granule bed. A monitoring mechanism detects the thickness of the generated granule bed, and a controller compares the detected thickness against a target thickness profile and transmits signals to one or more of the individually controllable feed chutes to adjust the flowrate of granules onto the support conveyor.

1 . An automated granule bed forming mechanism comprising:
 a support conveyor configured for supporting a formed granule bed;   at least one granule dispenser configured for dispensing granules onto the support conveyor to form a granule bed, wherein the at least one granule dispenser comprises:
 a plurality of feed chutes positioned across a width of the support conveyor, each of the plurality of feed chutes having an individually controllable feed door for controlling the flow rate of granules from the feed chute onto the support conveyor; 
 a thickness monitoring mechanism configured to monitor the thickness of the granule bed on the support conveyor; and 
   one or more controller configured to:
 compare the detected thickness of the granule bed on the support conveyor relative to a target thickness profile; and 
 transmit signals to one or more of the individually controllable feed doors to adjust the flow rate of granules from the feed chute onto the support conveyor to adjust the thickness of the granule bed to correspond to the target thickness profile. 
   
     
     
         2 . The automated granule bed forming mechanism according to  claim 1 , further comprising: a plurality of granulate dispensers, and wherein the one or more controller is embodied as a single controller configured to transmit signals to one or more of the individually controllable feed doors of each of the plurality of granulate dispensers. 
     
     
         3 . The automated granule bed forming mechanism of  claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of granulate dispensers, and wherein the one or more controller is embodied as a plurality of controllers, each of the plurality of controllers is configured to transmit signals to one or more of the individually controllable feed doors of one or more of the plurality of granulate dispensers. 
     
     
         4 . The automated granule bed forming mechanism of  claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of granulate dispensers, and wherein the one or more controller is embodied as a plurality of controllers, wherein each of the plurality of controllers corresponds to a corresponding controller of the plurality of granule dispensers, and wherein each of the plurality of controllers is configured to transmit signals to one or more of the individually controllable feed doors of the corresponding granule dispenser. 
     
     
         5 . The automated granule bed forming mechanism of  claim 1 , wherein:
 each of the feed chutes are configured to dispense granules onto a corresponding lane of the support conveyor; and   the one or more controller is configured to:
 compare the detected thickness of the granule bed in each lane of the support conveyor relative to a target thickness profile; and 
 transmit a signal to an individually controllable feed door of a particular feed chute to adjust the flow rate of granules from the feed chute onto the corresponding lane. 
   
     
     
         6 . The automated granule bed forming mechanism of  claim 1 , wherein the target thickness profile may define an at least substantially uniform thickness across a width of the granule bed. 
     
     
         7 . The automated granule bed forming mechanism of  claim 1 , wherein the target thickness profile defines a non-uniform thickness across a width of the granule bed. 
     
     
         8 . The automated granule bed forming mechanism of  claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of individually controllable feed doors are movable via a corresponding motor. 
     
     
         9 . The automated granule bed forming mechanism of  claim 8 , wherein each motor comprises a feedback mechanism configured to detect resistive forces counteracting a desired movement of the motor. 
     
     
         10 . The automated granule bed forming mechanism of  claim 9 , wherein the feedback mechanism comprises a force feedback mechanism. 
     
     
         11 . The automated granule bed forming mechanism of  claim 9 , wherein the feedback mechanism comprises a position feedback mechanism configured to detect the position of the feed door between the open configuration and the closed configuration. 
     
     
         12 . A method for forming a granule bed, the method comprising:
 moving a support conveyor past at least one granule dispenser;   dispensing granules from a plurality of feed chutes positioned across a width of the support conveyor to form a granule bed, wherein each of the plurality of feed chutes has an individually controllable feed door for controlling the flow rate of the granules flowing from the feed chute onto the support conveyor;   detecting the thickness of the granule bed via a thickness monitoring mechanism;   comparing the detected thickness of the granule bed relative to a target thickness profile; and   adjusting one or more of the feed doors of the plurality of feed chutes to adjust the flow rate of granules from the feed chute onto the support conveyor to adjust the thickness of the granule bed to correspond to the target thickness profile.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein dispensing granules from a plurality of feed chutes comprises dispensing granules into a plurality of lanes on the support conveyor, wherein each feed chute of the plurality of feed chutes corresponds to a single lane of the plurality of lanes; and
 wherein comparing the detected thickness of the granule bed relative to the target thickness comprises comparing the detected thickness of the granule bed in each lane relative to the target thickness profile.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the target thickness profile may define an at least substantially uniform thickness across a width of the granule bed. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the target thickness profile defines a non-uniform thickness across a width of the granule bed. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein adjusting one or more of the feed doors of the plurality of feed chutes comprises actuating a motor corresponding to each of the one or more feed doors. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , further comprising receiving a feedback signal from one or more of the motors to detect a position of the one or more feed doors; and
 wherein adjusting one or more of the feed doors comprises moving the one or more of the feed doors to a desired position based at least in part on the feedback signal.   
     
     
         18 . A controller for an automated granule bed forming mechanism, the controller comprising one or more memory storage areas and at least one processor configured to:
 transmit a signal to a plurality of individually controllable feed doors of corresponding feed chutes of a plurality of feed chutes of a granule dispenser to control a flowrate of granules from the feed chute onto a support conveyor, wherein the plurality of feed chutes are positioned across a width of the support conveyor;   detecting a thickness of a granule bed formed on the support conveyor from granules flowing from the plurality of feed chutes;   comparing the detected thickness of the granule bed on the support conveyor relative to a target thickness profile; and   transmitting a second signal to the plurality of individually controllable feed doors to adjust the flowrate of granules from the feed chute.   
     
     
         19 . The controller of  claim 18 , wherein each of the feed chutes are configured to dispense granules onto a corresponding lane of the support conveyor; and wherein:
 comparing the detected thickness of the granule bed on the support conveyor relative to the target thickness profile comprises comparing the detected thickness of the granule bed in each lane of the support conveyor relative to the target thickness profile; and   transmitting the second signal to the plurality of individually controllable feed doors comprises transmitting the second signal to the plurality of individually controllable feed doors to adjust the flow rate of granules from the feed chute onto the corresponding lane.   
     
     
         20 . The controller of  claim 18 , wherein the at least one processor is additionally configured to receive a feedback signal from one or more feed doors; and
 wherein adjusting one or more of the feed doors comprises moving the one or more of the feed doors to a desired position based at least in part on the feedback signal.